The Coming of the Seraph - Assiah
by HaloRecoil
Summary: Nearly two decades have passed since the Messiah's war and the death of the Creator. Heaven is still healing, Hell is divided, and on Assiah a girl is dreaming of a life that is not her own. Dreams of thunderstorms and dispassionate grey eyes.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:** _Angel Sanctuary is owned solely by Kaori Yuki.

This is the second arc of the 'The Coming of the Seraph' series, its highly recommended that you read the first arc to avoid confusion~

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Coming of the Seraph  
Assiah

Chapter 1

†

A sharp and wicked peal of thunder broke the silence in the darkened bedroom, it shook the furnishings, rattled the windows, and tore the Devil out of his sleep.

His first thought as he rolled onto his back was that it didn't rain in Sheol; the air was too heavy and dry to ever accumulate enough moisture to cause a storm like the one raging outside. But as Lucifer sat up in his bed, twisted up in pitch black silk sheets the first hard slap of rain smacked the wall of criss-cross paned windows.

The hypnotic sound of pouring rain shivered through the room as he stood, slow and cautious. It didn't rain in Sheol he told himself again as he moved closer to the windows, each step felt like lead and the other side of the room had never seemed so far.

Intermittent flashes of white light flickered through the cloud choked sky, and the aftershock of each bolt of lightning burned a path through Lucifer's veins, running through his chest before shaking out of his limbs in a long unsteady breath that left a trace of fog on the glass.

He pressed a hand to the window, letting the pitter-patter of cold raindrops across his palm remind him of a heartbeat; and he allowed himself to pretend that it belonged to the ghost brushing its hand along the hollow of his spine.

With every delicate sweep of her fingers the wind changed direction, and the stony black landscape was wiped away as the memory of the warmth in her touch replayed in his head. Though it had never been too warm and Lucifer saw no reason for that to change even years after her death.

Azreal said something and even though every syllable was woven into the din of the rain he responded, but his lips hardly moved and his words came out sleep heavy and garbled. They made no sense to him, but she laughed anyway and the sound was like raw electrical power.

Her body pressed into his back and she pressed a smile into his shoulder blade that made lightning streak across the black sky, she spoke again to the roll of distant thunder and grey eyes watched long nimble fingers graze slowly and deliberately down his path she made left his skin humming, burning even; and when she reached his wrist the storm grew restless, spitting out silver electrical discharge at a rate that made the air buzz with conductivity.

Her hand slid over his, caressing his knuckles and the backs of his fingers before settling on top of his. After a minute he took his hand from the window, turning it over so that her fingers could thread between his.

The rain stopped, leaving ringing silence as lightning continued to flicker silently around them. Azreal threaded their hands together and squeezed him tightly. Lightning struck just outside, forking between two spires of his castle; but there was no thunder to follow the display.

Only her lips pressed against his ear and an unobstructed painfully affectionate voice.

_Wake up..._

_†_

Five days had passed since sleep had come easily. Lucifer had spent those days pouring himself into distractions and work, avoiding sleep because dreaming of her had come to an end. The only thing waiting for him in sleep now was the nightmare of that benevolent lie of a voice; it was too kind, too loving, too much like the apparition that had attached itself to him after the fall of Etemenanki. So he worked himself far into exhaustion and his reward was dreamless sleep that only lasted a few weeks at most before the dreams would start again.

It started with the rain, lightning and thunder came a week or so later. She drifted in sometime after that, touching and smiling her torment until that voice boiled up from his subconscious and ruined the illusion of the woman that had taken his heart with her to the grave.

The knock at the door to his office was soft and reluctant, enough to jar Lucifer into realizing he'd been reading the same paragraph over and over for the last ten minutes. The door cracked open without waiting for his permission and the Mad Hatter slipped in, hiding its anxiety beneath frosty blue eyes that hungrily devoured every inch of a master it hadn't seen in days.

"Lucifer-sa-"

"What?" Belial swallowed as that one word struck cold fear into the Satan of Pride; bothering him had been expressing forbidden and asking about the ever increasing length of his insomnia had never crossed the jester's mind.

"Michael is here... This One did inform him that you did not wish to be bothered, and One believes his words were 'tell that motherfucker I'm here'..." Lucifer turned his attention to the Hatter, curious enough to set his papers to one side.

Michael had never made a habit of coming down to Sheol, he preferred to keep his excursions into Hell to the upper circles; where resistance against Heaven still lingered. It was usually important if he felt the need to come all the way to the center of his brother's empire.

"Five minutes." He said simply as he rose to organize the papers on his desk. Belial nodded and as quietly as it had made its entrance it was gone, informing the Fire Angel that its king had agreed to meet him. Right on time Michael helped himself through the double doors, throwing them open and waiting for them to shut completely before stepping deeper into the office.

He was in a suit, or at least as much of one as he could ever hope to see himself into. The buttons on the white shirt were half undone, the blue dragon on his chest peeked out between breaths and the sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows with little regard for avoiding wrinkles. If there had been a tie and jacket to accompany the ensemble it probably hadn't made it farther than the Merkaba.

"Good afternoon, Michael." Lucifer nodded his pleasantry as Michael glowered, teal eyes sweeping the room; next to nothing had changed. It was still an expensive mix of dark woods and quilted leather, the kind of this his brother had always been partial to, the only thing that had changed was that the painting behind the large polished desk was gone. Michael only knew there had been one there because he had brought Lucifer the item now hanging in its place.

It was a half-foot shorter than its original owner, all straight lines and a slanted tip of immutable ether; Tenkahane had seen the patricide of God and the fall of Etemenanki. Michael had been charged with melting it down. But, he'd chosen to hide it for a few years before returning it to who he felt deserved it, though that wasn't necessarily the person who could rightfully claim it.

"I've got something you need to see." They might have no longer been pitted against one another in a cosmic game their Father had called 'Balance, but making small talk had never quite made it into Michael's repertoire. The angel seated himself as he tossed a banded manila folder across the desk, he watched his brother open the file and reach for the stack of photos that weren't normally included in the files Heaven kept on the humans.

Lucifer picked up the first with idle curiosity. It was a newborn, swaddled in white with a pink cap on her head that had a small jeweled bow attached. The baby was mid-yawn with her eyes squeezed shut, a little bandaged fist tugging at her hat.

"Her name is Miharu Fujiwara, seventeen years old." Michael supplied as Lucifer picked up the second photo in the stack, the baby was several months older now. Dressed in creamy yellow tulle and lace, smiling beside a woman that could have only been her mother. Like the photo before it there was evidence of age and sticky tape on the back, they had undoubtedly been taken from a photo album.

The third photo must have been taken years after that, a little girl in a pink yukata with a pastry in one hand and a pinwheel in the other. She was grinning ear to ear.

The one after that was of a ten year old in the blues and whites of a typical Japanese uniform; she was flashing a silly 'V' with her fingers while her dark hair was strung up in pigtails.

"I didn't know you'd taken to stalking humans, brother." The next photo was of a teenager alongside dozens of other people in a crosswalk on her phone, she was looking in the other direction, completely unaware of the photographer.

"Fuck you. Like I've got time for shit like that." Michael snapped, flipping through to another photo of the girl sorting through a clothing rack; like the one before it had been taken in secret.

"Is there a reason I'm looking at this?" Lucifer slid the photo from the bottom of the stack out. She looked to be her current age, in a charcoal grey blazer and a plaid uniform skirt with her brown hair pulled into a knot above her head. He found himself smirking at the furious look on her face, whoever had been taking her picture had been caught; and he could guess that whatever she was yelling about was in relation to the manicured middle finger waving in the direction of the camera.

"She was born three weeks after time on Assiah restarted. Look at her charts." Michael nodded with his chin and grey eyes scanned the information. It was all fairly normal, except for her aura reading; it was much higher than most mortals with an abnormal spike in the ninth month of her development.

"A spiritual fucking powerhouse, and thats not even counting that anomaly while she was still in the womb." The Fire Angel tapped his heel against the ground, waiting for some kind of response.

"Where did you get this?" Michael grinned briefly, he still knew his brother well enough to recognize his curiosity and the fact that he was asking meant he'd taken an interest.

"Ezekiel..." Teal eyes met grey and Michael watched his brother digest the name. "He's got it in his fucking head that-"

"Michael." With the huff the Chief Powers sat back into his chair, in seventeen years Lucifer had never once allowed the subject of that woman to be broached. When Michael had brought him her sword he'd asked, and Lucifer had thanked him for the gesture and said nothing of had happened to her.

"You look like shit." The redhead crossed his arms as he sat back, wondering how his brother was going to explain away the exhaustion worn deep into his features. The former Morningstar set to reorganizing the photos, skimming the numerous files for something other than that one abnormality. It wasn't enough to justify what Michael, or Ezekiel for that matter, were implying. High spirituality in humans was not abnormal, and three weeks was too small of a window for reincarnation.

"Thats very kind of you to notice." Lucifer couldn't help the little bit of smugness that a few years ago would have torn Michael to shreds in fit of rage.

"Don't be an asshole." Michael sat up, kicking the desk just enough to jar the files and get his attention. "When was the last fucking time you slept?"

Lucifer considered his answer for a moment, fingers drumming against the wood surface. If he'd been one for dramatics still he would have said seventeen years, but that kind of melodrama seemed childish now and if he tried hard enough he could almost hear the laughter of the wraith haunting him.

"A few days."

"What the hell keeps the big bad King of Hell up at night?" Michael dug his fingers into the dark wooden arm of the leather chair, regretting the question instantly while simultaneously bracing himself for a completely indecipherable answer.

"Ghosts." A clipped response that put an end to the conversation. Even if he pried, Lucifer would never reveal more than that. They sat in silence, Michael staring out the window at the sallow white star that bathed Sheol in as much daylight as it could between the heavy cloud cover.

Lucifer continued sorting through the photo's of Miharu. She was, like all humans a collection of imperfections, though they came together in a way that made her pretty. There was nothing of Azreal in her face though, no underlying resemblance like Setsuna Mudou had to Alexiel; the evidence against Ezekiel's claim was almost enough to suggest otherwise.

"You know that we never found her body, and if Ezekiel-" Michael stood and slammed his hands on the desk before his brother could silence him. "God dammit listen to me! Ezekiel is pretty fucking convinced about it and if you give half a fuck about that bitch still you won't let him get to her first." The Fire Angel glared at his brother, waiting for an argument. When Lucifer said nothing he sat back down, puffing out his chest as he sank into the armchair

"You liked that bitch, everyone fucking knew that and I don't just mean when you were fucking her. And before you say something yes, everyone heard all the rumors about you two." Michael planted his heels on the desk, crossing his arms in annoyance.

"Just like all the rumors about you and your soldiers?" Lucifer raised a single brow, a smirk growing on his lips as Michael's eyes flashed murderous.

"Haha. Fuck you! Besides its one thing to _think_ that that's how you get a soldier's loyalty. Its different when you watch a man randomly promote a woman eight of nine chairs down just cause she's got some hold over your dick." The Powers met his brother's gaze, and again there was no fight from Lucifer; there never was, Michael sometimes wondered why he got his hopes up.

"If, and that is a very skeptical if on my part, this is somehow Azreal's...reincarnation. Then the question is who did it and why. I can't imagine a mentally unstable fallen angel being high on the list of anyone's priorities." Hell's king tapped a single finger against the wood; he already knew who had done it but why seemed far too convoluted for understanding.

"There's only one person who knows reincarnation magic." Michael said matter of factly, surprised that he needed to even answer that.

"Breaking into Hades isn't exactly easy." Lucifer had no wish to expend that much power breaking into the domain of the Elemental Angel of Earth, Uriel had long ago sealed Hades from the rest of Creation and despite his return to Heaven he maintained Hades as his home.

"Well lucky for you that motherfucker is in Heaven, Council is still in session for two more days." Michael slung back immediately, his smile was all fangs.

"Why are you so hell bent on being right about this Michael?" Lucifer narrowed his eyes, none of this seemed coincidental anymore.

"I know three fucking things about this whole fucking mess." Michael stood, pushing up the sleeve that had come loose when he'd nearly split Lucifer's desk in two. "Azreal meant something to you, I'm not gonna assume that I know what, but she always fucking did whether you like it or not. If Ezekiel is right, wanting to kill her is going to drive him crazy, and the same fucking thing is going to happen if he's wrong. Its real shitty to be on either side of that shit!"

"Thats two things."

"Let me fucking finish! Jesus fuck!" Michael yelled, frowning at his brother's ever growing smirk. "We've got enough shit on our plate as it is, there isn't any time for a proper investigation into the possibility that Uriel of all fucking people reincarnated one of the Godkillers. Besides, aren't you fucking curious?" As his answer Lucifer stood, buttoning the jacket of his steel grey suit.

"Give me a minute." Lucifer handed the folder back and waved his twin through the door. Michael rolled his eyes as he shut the door behind himself, he wasn't entirely sure he'd actually done anything to convince his brother. He knew Lucifer well enough to know that there had to be some ulterior motive lying deep beneath his agreement to investigate the human girl.

There was a loud crash behind the door that made Michael jump and a moment after that Lucifer exited his office, allowing Michael a glance into the room. The desk had been overturned, papers scattered and the steel and glass lamp that had been on the desk was shattered and flickering.

"Shall we?" Lucifer made to attempt to stop and wait for Michael who silently stared at his brother's back the entire journey to Heaven.

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**Afterthoughts**

Here we are again friends~ I'm so very excited to continue this project! I hope you're ready for quite the adventure!


	2. Chapter 2

**Quick Note:** Hello friends, I strongly suggest before you go any further that you check out _jaelly-bean_'s story Eve of the Earth. Not only is it an excellent read, BUT Jael has been kind enough to loan me Zephyrel - The leading lady of EOTE! Though the outcome of EOTE is largely unknown at this point (10.14.13), COS!verse will assume that everything turned out well for Uriel and Zeph because honestly someone deserves to be happy~

So go read it!

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Coming of the Seraph  
Assiah

Chapter 2

†

_Ira_ was painted in sweeping white claw-like marks across the heavy old-fashioned timber door. It was simple hard pine, unstained and held together with rust riddled steel bolts. There was nothing particularly special about it, especially when compared to some of the other doors in the large circular room hidden away in the expanse of Sheol's castle.

Avaritia boasted a monolith of shining gold that gleamed so brightly, it almost hurt to stare for too long; but at least it was a door. The Satan of Pride had chosen a large brass and wrought iron freestanding mirror as the portal to Superbia. Invidia was a wall of steel bars that hadn't been opened in her lifetime, while the entrance to Acedia and the Labyrinth was an enormous gate made of human bones.

Jezebeth turned her nose up at them all, unimpressed by all the haughty displays that the Satans so adored; but nothing so grandiose had ever been asked of Ira and nothing of the sort had ever been delivered. The woman, waspy under simple black and sleeveless dress looked back upon the decrepit door and the moths gathered around it with love.

The insects splayed their wings in a greeting, the mottled skulls on their thoraxes stared at her with their vacant dark eyes. She smiled as she laid her soft warm hands flat against the door, and the moths scattered as the deadbolt behind the door opened with a squeal. They landed back onto their mistress as the door swung open in its ancient rust eaten hinges, some crawled across her cheeks and lashes while others buried into the loose dark curls of her red hair. They gathered like gauntlets on her bare arms and formed a necklace that fluttered with each breath she took.

There was only the darkness of an unlit cave behind the door, and the cool stale air that swelled out of the portal made the woman shiver. With no effort at all she made a small fire in her hands, stepping through the threshold and plunging fearlessly into the dark cave. She walked for a time, she never kept track but it was never long enough to make her bare feet hurt, but they did get cold on the rocky ground. The moths had fallen into a frenzy around the flame, and the only thing Jezebeth could do to keep them from igniting themselves was cup her hands over the fire as they dove towards the hypnotic glow.

Somewhere in the distance there was another sound, faint but obvious to her ears. it was the crying of a child, and as grief twisted her soft features she ran forward; leaving her moths to follow a few feet in her wake. Abruptly the passage came to an end, opening up into a large poorly lit cavern that only amplified the sounds of weeping that had grown both in volume and number. She looked around the cave, finding beasts both large and small roosting high in the black stone walls; all of them were shaking, shuddering, and sobbing.

"Sister Jezebeth!" They all wailed together, shaking out sobs as a show of how grateful they were for their sister's return.

"Shhhhh…" Jezebeth lulled them into silence with the sweetness in her voice. "For whom do we weep brothers and sisters?" As soft as her voice was, it carried through the entire cave.

"For Mother!" Hundreds of voices answered the question and the volume nearly split her head open, she felt the threat of tears burn her eyes. But she blinked them away; it was time to be strong, she told herself, as strong as Mother had always been.

"For Mother…" Jezebeth nodded as she turned on the balls of her feet to face the marble statue of their beloved mother.

Her shrine was awash in warm torchlight that made her marble form ethereal as she stood like a saint over her children. A cold white face in the likeness of the Satan of Wrath and Baroness of Ira stared out over the cavern, with empty eyes that had been crying dark streams of blood since her death at the hands of Elemental Angel of Fire.

Balbero's children, so lost in their despair had committed themselves to mourning with the statue- with their mother, and they would not rest or stop until the statue did. It had been seventeen years...

"Where is Father?!" Another one of Balbero's children, a beautiful marble white young man stepped into the light wearing nothing but a collection of rosaries strung at various lengths around his neck. Jezebeth met her brother's tear-stained face, and she felt her chest tighten as a sob escaped her involuntarily. She knew where Father was, and Jezebeth didn't know if her siblings were ready for the bitter truth.

Mother had told them often that the were all the children of the Demon Lord, princes and princesses of the Great Empire of Hell. They never doubted their mother's claim, and had on more than one occasion had mercilessly dealt with anyone that dared to call Balbero a liar.

However, Lucifer hadn't taken his children into his arms to mourn the death of their mother, and Jezebeth didn't have the heart to tell her siblings that he hadn't so much as thought of them in all these years. She knew by now that when he sat, silent and visceral on his great black throne it was not their mother that he wished to have beside himself.

Jezebeth had forgiven it all, Balbero had only ever asked that her children love their father unconditionally, and it had been easy until his most recent act of negligence. He'd crossed a line that she hadn't even known existed, and for it she felt wretched.

"Father..." She started as tears slipped down her round cheekbones. "Father is... leaving." A great howl shook the cave walls around them, screaming and sobbing until Jezebeth pressed a finger to her lips to again shush them into a silence that was barely contained.

"Where is Father going?!" A pair of impish little demons whined, raking their claws over their scaled faces. The question rippled through the brood in choked whispers, Jezebeth felt her chest jerk in a silent sob.

_Be strong_, the woman told herself, knowing that the truth would dissolve centuries of love and loyalty for their absent father. Very suddenly though, the eldest of Balbero's daughters no longer felt guilty for wanting the rage that would follow the truth about Lucifer.

"Tell us Sister…" The boy with the crosses said again, knuckling away his tears and staring down at his sister with pale blue eyes.

"He's going to Heaven…" The crying stopped for a brief moment, disbelief collectively apparent on their faces. "With Mother's murderer!"

Black eyes squeezed shut as the wailing, screaming, and shrieking shook the cavern again. Minutes went by before she could pacify them again, and then it was only to whisper a promise to her siblings.

"Brothers and Sisters… This is the last time that Father will ignore us, he will hear our cries and he _will_ mourn with us."

†

Following its destruction at the hands of Michael and the Messiah, the Citadel of Law had for the most part been rebuilt brick for brick. Lucifer went with the assumption that it was a small familiar comfort in a world that was practically unrecognizable to the birds of Paradise. He chose to keep his opinion on the angels using a symbol so covered in blood and misery as a safety blanket to himself.

The cold white building, with its ornately detailed buttresses and arched windows it looked out of place amongst the modern city looming behind it.

He frowned as he regarded it, half turning to catch a glimpse of the building some distance across it.

The Parliament, the imposing and ruthlessly nostalgic sister of the Citadel. He smothered the idea of revisiting his old office; it wouldn't look the same, of that he was certain, and it certainly wouldn't feel the same alone.

"Don't fucking wander off." Michael's voice cut straight through his thoughts, the redhead apparently hadn't missed his brother's wandering gaze and the last thing he needed was the Devil sending the angels into a full scale panic.

"Get your ass to Uriel's office and only Uriel's office." The Archangel shoved the manila folder into Lucifer's hands before turning on the heel of his scuffed shoes.

"You won't be joining us?" It wasn't as if Michael's presence was going to do anything to aid or hinder the conversation, but the decision to let Lucifer of all people into what was arguably Heaven's new center of power didn't seem like the wisest one.

"I got my own shit to take care of, and you sure as fuck don't need your goddamn hand held! So don't make any fucking trouble and I won't have to kick your fucking ass!" Michael shouted over his shoulder as he stomped across the pavillion, parting the crowd with his scowl alone.

The Great Powers waited until he was seated at the main controls of his airship before slipping a hand into the breast pocket of the suit jacket that had been thrown unceremoniously on the seat, teal eyes briefly scanning the floor for the thin black tie he'd had on a grand total of five and a half minutes. He pulled out a small silver USB drive, glaring at it as he held it between his thumb and index finger.

He'd wanted to show his brother what was stored on the device, see if he knew how and why what was happening to the girl was happening. But, seeing that violent outburst- however minescule, had changed his mind. He wasn't about to sic the Devil on a teenage girl that _might_ be Azreal.

He inserted the flashdrive into the port on the viewing monitor, impatiently crossing his arms as it took a moment to load up and when the video played he scowled.

It was time stamped a little under a year ago, and very clearly labeled '_8th Occurence_', that had been enough to make Michael wary of Ezekiel's motivations behind sneaking out to Assiah every couple of months. His lips thinned as he watched the camera come into focus, this was his second time watching the video, and just like before she was in her underwear and a black tank top that had crawled over her stomach. She rolled over, away from the camera. Away from Ezekiel, the thought was almost nauseating.

Michael sat forward, scrubbing through forty five minutes of the feed in disgust at the notion of the acting Great Cherub watching the girl sleep. She tossed and turned before violently jerking onto her back.

He played the video again when her back arched up off the bed. As if there was a string attached to her chest her body continued to rise. She stopped only when all four of her limbs had come off the bed, hanging limp and uncomfortable.

The angel sped through two hours of that, resuming just as her arms and legs flailed, she back onto the messy dark sheets of her bed. Miharu woke up screaming, frantically shoving away her imaginary attackers while scooting so far to one side that she fell off the twin sized bed.

Nightmares. That shouldn't have meant anything, every being in Creation suffered dreams both good and bad; but not many humans woke up screaming the names of angels while clutching at her chest exactly over where fallen angels received their brand. Michael hated how the action of her dragging her fingers across her heart simultaneously meant nothing and everything.

Ezekiel had read it as absolute proof of the girl's status as Azreal's reincarnation. Lucifer... would inevitably do the same, and keeping both of them from harassing and possibly killing a human girl was not something he was looking to sign up for right now. Michael found himself hoping that Uriel hadn't played any part in this. He wanted to believe that somehow that insane bitch had reincarnated herself, but even he couldn't delude himself that much.

†

There had always been something about walking into a room and putting a halt to whatever everyone was doing that appealed to Lucifer; terrified frozen expressions aside it just felt right to command that kind of attention. Though it did make finding the office a nuisance when every angel dissolved into panic the moment he asked for directions, apparently the visitors pass clipped to the lapel of his grey suit did nothing to assure them of his innocuous intentions.

Uriel's secretary said nothing as he passed her desk, jaw hanging open and one hand trying to discreetly find the phone beside her. He let himself through the double doors, into the circular office that boasted enough windows to appeal to the Earth Angel's taste for natural light. The angel himself was on the phone massaging his temple; he looked startled for just a moment, but that expression only lasted long enough for him to glare at the base of the phone.

"Michael… For future reference, calling me thirty seconds before your brother comes waltzing into my office is not considered a warning." On the other end the Fire Angel laughed, saying something about Assiah, a folder, and his asshole brother. Uriel was wishing that just once he could have a conversation with Michael that didn't result in ruining his day.

He tried to focus on the things Michael was spewing at a hundred miles a minute, but he couldn't; not with the proverbial serpent walking the circle of his office. Lucifer took in the most minute details, the dark hardwood floors and the cream professionally drab walls. There was a stripe of darkest green near the ceiling; he could appreciate the personal touches, though it seemed that the only other sign of such a liberty was on the corner of his large desk.

It was a vase; crystal and square, holding at the very least a dozen violet roses. They filled the room with a crisp young smell despite being perpetually in full bloom.

Grey eyes scanned the titles on the bookshelves situated between each window, every single one was a law book of some sort and Lucifer found that terribly boring. He settled for staring out the window taking in the sight of the over-modernized steel and glass buildings that comprised the metropolis of Lakiah.

"I'm hanging up now." The Earth Angel's false voice was irritated, a chronic reaction for anyone who dealt with the Fire Angel on a regular basis. It was all well and good that Michael had finally put himself above incinerating everything in his path in a fit of pique, but he was still as stubborn and argumentative as he'd always been.

With the receiver back in place the silence that hollowed out the room only made Uriel more and more cautious. He eyed the folder that Michael had mentioned, if the angel had mentioned the contents of it he hadn't been listening. Dark fingers twitched as he sucked in a breath, preparing himself for whatever was coming.

"May I ask what you're doing here?" Lucifer's lips twitched into the tiniest of smirks, the same one that had always painted him so well in arrogance. Close to two decades had passed since Heaven had seen or heard from him personally; the signing of the peace treaties aside he'd stayed as far out of Heaven's affairs as possible.

"I heard you were married recently." Lucifer began, his tone was empty and really his interest was close to nonexistent. But, there was admittedly something satisfying, maybe even nice about knowing that the angels had begun to embrace the things the Creator had always denied His children. Uriel's frowned thinned, and his face flashed a dark intensity that Lucifer read as a warning.

"You don't really think I'm the sort of monster that would threaten the woman you love, do you?" Uriel knew that Lucifer was many things, even the sort of thing that threatened loved ones didn't seem too difficult of a stretch. But he wasn't stupid, he'd dragged himself out of his pit for something other than threatening the wives of men who could contend with him.

Green eyes darted momentarily to the crystal vase- to the roses, picking out the scent of them as easily as the strawberry shampoo of his wife's hair. Just as quickly they were back on the Devil and he nodded stiffly.

"Yes, I was." He supposed that in the grand scheme of things thirteen years was fairly recent, though there was nothing else he was willing to discuss on the matter. It was unsettling to know that Lucifer knew anything about his personal life.

"My congratulations." Apparently even the Lord of Hell could manage a sliver of sincerity, but that only made Uriel sit up straighter and his fingertips formed a steeple that he laid his chin on.

"Lucifer, you didn't come all this way to congratulate my marriage _years_ after the fact." His eyes narrowed critically as Lucifer moved across the office in two fluid steps. He set the folder carefully on the desk, using one finger to slide it into Uriel's reach, when the angel opened it he froze instantly.

"Where-"

"Michael. It was given to him by Ezekiel… who has taken to the idea that this girl is Azreal's reincarnation." Lucifer's eyes flashed for the briefest moment, the Elemental's reaction had been all he needed, and he silently sorted and neatly packaged away the rush of subtle but potent emotions spearheading its way through him. Hope was silly and for children, what he wanted now was the truth.

"I'm guessing," Pitch black brows knitted together as he spread Miharu's photo's across the desk, his voice all but frozen over. "That while you spent all your time focused on keeping her a secret from me, you forgot about him."

Uriel pinched the bridge of his nose, staring at the photos of a face he was only distantly familiar with. He found it very hard to believe that this was actually happening, though truth be told he'd been expecting it. Maybe not as soon as it had, but secrets didn't hide very well from Lucifer. Now though, the question of how Azreal's twin brother had uncovered the girl was burning a hole in Uriel's thoughts. Ezekiel had never gotten clearance to set foot on Assiah, Heaven's High Judge and Council Leader had pulled countless strings to ensure that he'd stayed as far away from the girl as possible.

"Did you take these?" Uriel sorted through the photos, watching her age in a matter of seconds; his scarred throat went dry as Lucifer shook his head. It was disturbing to think how easily he pictured the acting Chief of the Cherubs stalking a human teenager, especially with the belief that she was somehow his sister.

"Is she?"

"We aren't having this conversation here." Uriel shut the manila folder with enough force to project his seriousness. "This topic is private and this place is not." Long tan fingers picked up the phone again, and he swiveled his chair away in some attempt to get privacy.

"Raziel?" Uriel spoke quickly into the receiver when the angel on the other end answered in his usual tone of mild irritation. "Yes, he is… I have to return to Hades… I'm aware, believe me. But something had come up… Something that warrants the Devil intruding on my office at three in the afternoon… I'm...I'm taking him with me… Raziel, just… Just suspend the meetings until I get back… No, no explanations and please see to it that Michael understands for once in his life what discretion is… Thank you."

He hung up the phone, adjusting the white scarf tucked neatly around the voice emulator and his neck. When he leaned back into the brown leather of his chair and crossed his legs he picked up the folder again; regarding the photo's of Miharu with more interest than Lucifer had shown.

She was much older now, if he remembered correctly she hadn't even started school the last time he and Zephyrel had checked in on her. It had occurred to him that the further away she was kept from anything remotely celestiel, the less likely she was to ever be discovered. With a sigh he reorganized the photo's, tucking them back into the folder and holding it out to Lucifer. He didn't release it immediately, waiting until chilly grey eyes met his.

"Hades is my home, Lucifer." The angel stood, despite being several strong inches taller than the Devil there wasn't a hint of intimidation on his face. "You are a guest, if you forget that for even a second I will not show you any mercy." Another smirk, and even Uriel could tell that it had been forced across his mouth.

* * *

**Afterthoughts**

_**Latin Lesson~ **  
__Ira - Wrath  
Avaritia - Greed  
Superbia - Pride  
_Acedia - Sloth

Its been a while since the last update, but I'm pretty pleased even though I had to split this chapter in two. This project is already growing in size and that actually makes me really excited!


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